The party won’t be over ‘til we get rid of music, entertainment on South Beach | Opinion

Miami Beach has a cancer. It’s called the Entertainment District and it’s killing the city. It’s time to remove it. And if elected officials are serious about the city’s future, they need to stop pushing for Band-aid fixes, straw votes and increased police presence. It’s time to take aggressive action.

Ocean Drive, its hotels and its restaurants need to operate in a healthy environment, where visitors do not fear for their lives. Where else can you sit at sidewalk cafes, enjoy a fine meal and look out at the beach and ocean?

Tough times call for tough measures: Eliminate music and entertainment south of Lincoln Road, except in hotels of more than 250 rooms. I can hear lawyers’ phones ringing off the hook. But let’s be real clear: Either those establishments want a better community, or they simply want to fill their cash registers while the city decays. They can’t have both.

Change is controversial, for sure. And positive change to save the city is not for the faint of heart. It takes courage, commitment, leadership and a passion to succeed, something I hope Mayor Dan Gelber understands.

It’s ironic that the mayor has the opportunity to have history repeat itself. There would never have been a Loews Miami Beach Hotel — and the enormous growth of hotel industry growth — if it hadn’t been for the leadership of late Mayor Seymour Gelber, the mayor’s father. He was tenacious in his support and never backed down.

However, the real chance to make Miami Beach a vibrant city again lies with the Convention Center. The meeting industry is undergoing major changes. Large meetings no longer are the norm. An 800-room hotel in the future is not viable.

I’m advocating for an adaptive reuse of the Convention Center. This flex-space venue should be the cornerstone of the mayor’s vision of becoming an arts-and-culture destination.

The community’s $650 million renovation needs a return on investment. Envision a one-of-a-kind facility devoted to the arts, culture, film and television production, music, innovation of sound, virtual technology, digital art and photography, sculpture, fashion, literature and more.

Art Basel and its parent company, MCH, are vital to this transformation. Use the flex space to create sound stages for film, TV and music videos; use the Great Lawn for fashion shows showcasing the beauty of the city as a backdrop. Microsoft is coming to Miami; the Medina family is leading us into the future of high technology via eMerge Americas; there’s an expansion of the Book Fair; the Aspen Conference, dealing with climate change.

The vision does not end there. We will be able to host all these disciplines taking place in Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa, Canada and other places worldwide. Miami Beach can become the international destination for world arts and culture.

There’s a whole new horizon out there waiting to be explored. Sit with leaders from all these cultures and establish creative partnerships.

The Boat Show and Auto Show, staples of the Convention Center, will continue to bring visitors to the city as part of any adaptive reuse of the venue.

If we are fortunate enough to make Ocean Drive a safe destination for dining and accommodations, Convention Center attendees clearly will enjoy the new dining experience being offered on Ocean Drive.

There is a city election in November. Will any of the candidates embrace change? The alternative to this vision is simply the status quo.

I quote my friend, the late attorney Parker Thomson, who, when faced with the challenges of creating a Performing Arts Center in Miami, said, “If you dream it you can do it. If its easy, it’s not worth it.”

Remaking Ocean Drive won’t be easy, but it’s clearly worth it.

Stuart Blumberg is the former president of the Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association.